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{
    "id": 594921,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/594921/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 190,
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    "content": "constantly using the same lawyers day in, day out, with a certain legal capacity or value known to this country. Remember we debated here about the affordability of those lawyers because the Senate is conscious that it needs to mitigate the costs it attains from the taxpayers. However, I have seen certain counties where, whenever the governor is asked to reply to small queries, they hire senior lawyers and pay massive deposits for issues that could have been handled at a different level for much less cost. This Bill, therefore, stops this avenue of corruption. I do not believe that a small brief can attract the hefty fees that we have seen. We have, therefore, given ourselves the opportunity to mitigate these costs. We want to go beyond the county attorney and his establishment in any county because everybody must show cause as to why he or she has gone for a senior counsel and not because of the intricacy or complexity of a matter. There must be some justification in terms of how they procure lawyers outside the provisions of this Bill. In the Committee, it was discussed that out there, lawyers are fairly unhappy with this Bill. They know that they might end up not getting some of the briefs they have been getting from county governments. Even if you have been pre-qualified and you are a great lawyer, you must also be humane. Counties are allocated a couple of billions. I know counties that have debts in legal fees amounting to Kshs1 billion or Kshs2 billion. I know the county debts in terms of legal fees in Nairobi and Mombasa counties. If you look at the kind of fees that are paid and the kind of work that was discharged, there is no comparative. We have allowed ourselves to fleece our counties on account of hiring lawyers. I have the greatest respect for the legal profession. I believe it is profession of decorum. People who come from this profession are some of the best politicians in this country. They are also some of the best governance experts and they have given life to this Constitution and capture the aspirations of the Kenyan people. However, we also need to ensure that we keep our conscience by ensuring that we get value for money. This Bill is a value for money kind of a Bill. We have given that capacity to the county attorney. In addition, we have given him or her capacity to have an establishment that shall be able to discharge the functions of the county in a manner that also mitigates the costs. This Bill is also a flagship; it sets a code of conduct, because we realise the sanctity of this particular profession and the calling of this particular office. We have put in place ethical values and principles as an appendage to this Bill, as contained in the Second Schedule. It talks about the issues of loyalty, dedication, responsibility, competence and honesty, quality of service, fairness, confidentiality and integrity. We have literally captured the spirit of the Constitution in this Bill. That is why I recommend this Committee which I sit in because in terms of its flagship, it has tried to create a Bill that, if it becomes law, ascribes to nothing but total fidelity to the law, and total competence in the discharge of the functions of this office. Madam Temporary Speaker you will realise that when you get your act right according to your legal framework, this country has got a lot of debate around the office of the Attorney- General, as it is now. We have been interrogating whether that office sometimes has input to Bills that have been partly suspended by the Supreme Court in terms of the constitutionality test. I think we will have somebody to take responsibility; we will be able to tell this county attorney that he or she must be faithful to this Constitution and to this law. This law translates the spirit of the Constitution to give competence to an office, that now; we can look forward and say, for example: Did the Mombasa County Executive have to act in the way they did? We can always The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}